Using Webmaker to tackle real life problems

Webmaking is fun. Creating memes and hilarious animated gifs is a great way to spend an afternoon. But sometimes there are more serious issues we’d like to examine — and webmaking tools like Popcorn and Thimble can help.
Earlier this week, a group of webmakers in Nigeria got together at a Maker Party on Bonny Island to explore the theme of “Creating web solutions to real life problems.”


The event was hosted by Soki Briggs, a blogger and Mozilla Rep. Soki also runs Ngbuzz, one of Nigeria’s leading online discussion forums.
Soki encouraged his participants to brainstorm ideas they could immediately start hacking on, helping them use Thimble and Popcorn to create solutions to challenges like Helping a local business get online and Educating the public about how to drive safely.
These great projects have got us thinking about other creative ways webmakers are tackling important public issues. Two weeks ago, we put out a call to help UNESCO remix educational videos to support school teachers in rural Pakistan. Osman Alper answered our request by creating this video on health and hygiene:

Webmaker quytaro created this Thimble page about littering:

What real life problems would you like to tackle?

We’d love to see you take this idea further. What issues are important in your community? You could…

  • Make a public education video. You could try using video from Youtube or Vimeo, combined with music, graphics and content from websites like Wikipedia to create a “public education” video with Popcorn Maker.
  • Make a web page about a cause you care about. You could try making a website about an issue you care about. Thimble allows you to create, share and host your own web pages — and it’s easy for beginners and experts alike.
  • Remix others’ work. You could explore Webmaker’s gallery of Makes and try remixing someone else’s project. Just hit the “remix” button on anything that catches your eye!
  • Share. Don’t forget to share your work online with the #makerparty hashtag — and inspire others to use the web to tackle real life problems and social issues.

Get involved